


A Strange Encounter

by hornethq



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Philza mention, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Wholesome, big brother wilbur, enderman ranboo, maybe minor injuries, no romantic relationships, toddler fundy, tommy is like 12 in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28353171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hornethq/pseuds/hornethq
Summary: On his first solo journey through the woods, Tommy discovers something incredibly confusing.Wholesome sleepy bois inc + ranboo! My first ever fic so please be nice, though constructive criticism is welcomed!
Comments: 20
Kudos: 466





	1. What is this?

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first ever fic! feel free to leave feedback in the comments!

Tommy slung his bag over his shoulder, loosely tying his shoes in his rush to get out the door.  
“You got everything?” Wilbur asked as he walked from the kitchen to say goodbye to his younger brother, a young Fundy cradled against his side. “Food? Sword?”  
The blonde pre-teen rolled his eyes. “Yes, Wil.” He sighed, straightening back up. “I’m only walking to Tubbo’s anyways, it’s not far.”  
Wilbur ruffled Tommy’s hair with his free hand, concern in his eyes. “I know Toms, but it’s your first time going through the woods alone. You sure you don’t want me to go wake Techno and get him to walk you there?”  
Tommy shook his head quickly. “I’m not a baby Wil! I’ll be careful.” He gave his brother a hug, careful not to squish the toddler he was holding. “I’ll be back before dark, I promise.”  
“Love you Toms!” Wilbur called as the younger boy ran into the woods. Fundy gurgled his best attempt at an ‘I love you’, and Tommy simply waved in response, not looking back. 

\--

About halfway through his trek, Tommy felt his anxiety reach its peak. He was sure something was following him, though he had no clue what it could be. His breath was shaky as he pushed through the foliage, very much wishing he had stayed on the path rather than take this shortcut.  
“You’ll be fine, Tommy, just breathe.” He reassured himself under his breath, adjusting one hand to hold the hilt of his sword. “You have a sword, you’ll be sa-”  
His sentence was cut short as he fell flat on his face, having tripped over a tree root. Items spilled out of his bag, scattering around him. The young boy felt warmth on his face as a thin trickle of blood dripped from his nose.  
“Shit.” He grumbled, slowly getting to his feet. He brushed the dirt off his clothes and steadied his breathing, wiping his nose on his sleeve. As the boy bent down to gather his items, he heard a large snap behind him. His hand rushed to his sword as he spun around to attack-  
An enderman? But it looked weird. Too… human? And it was wearing a suit for some reason? What the hell was this thing? The blonde boy took in a deep breath, raising his sword to defend himself from whatever the fuck it was.  
But then it spoke. Or at least, Tommy assumed it was trying to talk. It was a weird, garbled mixture of enderman and english, but Tommy understood the words “hi!”, “friend”, “human”, and “hurt”. He lowered his sword in confusion, eyes wary as the weird creature stepped closer.  
“Stay back!” He yelled, trying to sound confident. “Leave me alone!” Tommy’s voice cracked, and the creature seemed to notice.  
It pointed at Tommy’s nose. “Hurt.” It repeated the word slowly, like it was focusing very hard on what it was saying. “I… Help!” It reached into the back pocket of its pants, pulling out a surprisingly clean red handkerchief and holding it out to Tommy.  
The young boy hesitantly reached out and took the handkerchief, dipping his head in thanks and holding it to his nose. The creature... smiled? Maybe that’s what it was, and promptly teleported off, leaving the blonde boy incredibly confused. He gathered his things and continued the rest of the way to Tubbo’s house.


	2. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy returns to the spot of the strange encounter

Tommy absentmindedly fiddled with the hem of his shirt as Tubbo excitedly led him to his backyard. 

“And here’s my beehives! They’re new so…” Tommy stopped listening to his friend’s words, occasionally nodding to appear like he was still paying attention. The young blonde could only think of the weird enderman-like creature he met in the woods. 

“Tommy?” The blonde boy’s attention was snapped back to the present as Tubbo waved his hands in front of his face. 

“Sorry!” Tommy sheepishly replied, “What were you saying?”

Tubbo looked at his friend with concern in his eyes. “Nevermind that, are you doing okay? You’ve been distracted this whole time.” 

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just…” Tommy trailed off, looking at the ground. He was conflicted on whether or not to tell the other boy about the encounter he had had. On one hand, maybe Tubbo could help him figure out what that thing was, but on the other… something within the boy wanted to keep it a secret. He didn’t know why, but it felt… special, like something just meant for him. “I’m just tired. I think I’m gonna head home early and take a nap.” 

“O-okay man.” Tubbo didn’t seem convinced, but he didn’t know what else to say. The brunette pulled his friend into a hug. “Thanks for coming, get some sleep Tommy.” 

Tommy gave a rather forced smile. “I will Tubbo, see you soon.” He turned and headed back into the woods.

\----

Tommy kept his eyes peeled as he trekked back to the spot he had met the creature.  _ I’m just returning the handkerchief, then I can forget all about this. _ The boy tried super hard to convince himself that was all he was doing, that he had no interest in learning more about this creature.

“Hello?” He hesitantly called once he got to the spot, “Uhh, I have your handkerchief.” Tommy scanned the trees around him, searching for any sign of the strange enderman. He was met only with silence and stillness. Tommy sighed in disappointment and fiddled with the handkerchief in his hands for a moment, not wanting to leave. 

A loud snap sounded behind him, and Tommy quickly whipped around, hoping to see the creature from earlier. The excitement on his face quickly turned to fear as he locked eyes with an enderman, but not the friendly one from earlier. The tall creature’s eyes narrowed and it quickly advanced toward Tommy. The boy cowered, hiding his head in his hands, and braced to be attacked. 

But he wasn’t. He heard the garbled sound of endermen speaking, then the woosh of one teleporting away. Nervously, he peeked between his fingers and saw the long legs of an enderman, but… in suit pants? The creature from earlier!

“Friend!” It spoke, somewhat garbled, though Tommy swore it sounded excited. 

“Hi!” The boy responded, rising to his feet and holding out the cloth from earlier. “I wanted to give you this back. Thanks.” He smiled, though he avoided looking at the creature’s face. 

It tilted its head, taking the fabric from the boy. “Thank… you!” It smiled. 

A moment of silence passed, neither party quite sure of what to do. Tommy knew if his brothers were here they would tell him to leave, but he didn’t want to. He looked up at the tall creature, making eye contact for the first time.

“I’m Tommy.” He cautiously spoke, “Do you have a name?” The creature looked puzzled for a moment, so Tommy tried again. “Tommy,” He said, pointing to himself. “Who are you?”

The creature’s eyes widened in understanding. It pointed to itself, smiling wide. “I Ranboo!” 

“Ranboo?” Tommy asked, and the creature nodded in response. “Well, Ranboo, nice to meet you.” The boy smiled, reaching out for a handshake. 

Ranboo seemed puzzled, but stuck its hand out too. When Tommy touched its hand, the enderman’s eyes went wide and he rapidly garbled out some enderman speak before wooshing away, leaving Tommy alone and very confused. The boy looked around him for a moment before noticing that the sun was starting to go down. 

“Shit!” He exclaimed, turning and quickly heading home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! I never expected this to get attention, I wrote chapter one in like 45 minutes very late at night on an impulse, so I'm shocked so many of y'all think it's good! I'll try and update this fairly regularly!


	3. Chores

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a filler chapter, Tommy has to deal with a difficult toddler.

“Ugh, Fundy, stop it!” Tommy huffed, frustrated as the toddler continued to throw his toys about. “I need to get this clean!” 

Fundy giggled and threw some more blocks around, thoroughly amused at his uncle’s annoyance. 

Tommy was used to this, Fundy was never cooperative when it came to chores. Usually he would just put up with the toddler’s antics and complain to Techno later, but today he was in a rush. He needed to get the living room clean before he was allowed outside, and he desperately wanted to look for Ranboo again.

Finally having had enough, the blonde pre-teen scooped up his nephew, setting him up on a table perhaps a little too roughly. “Stay up there!” He ordered, turning to get back to work on the mess the kid had made. Fundy sat in shocked silence for a short moment, processing what had just happened, before harshly wailing. 

_ Shit shit shit.  _ Tommy frantically rushed to comfort the toddler, praying he could get the kid to shut up before Wil or Techno heard. “Hey little man,” He cooed, “It’s alright, I’m sorry! Hush!” He picked Fundy back up, bouncing him gently while shushing him. 

“Mean!” Fundy whined in between sobs, “Tommy mean!” 

“Fundy I didn’t mean it!” Tommy said desperately, “You were just being annoying!” As soon as the words left his mouth he knew it was a mistake, as the small child’s cries grew louder. “Sorry!” The pre-teen quickly tried to remedy the situation.  _ If Wilbur finds out I said that I’m screwed.  _ “Hey! Let’s make a deal, little man.” Tommy adjusted Fundy so he could look him in the eye. “You calm down and don’t tell anyone about this, and I’ll bring you the coolest rock I can find in the woods.”

Fundy’s eyes lit up and the waterworks stopped. “Rock!” He babbled, aggressively nodding. 

Tommy sighed, gently setting his nephew down. “Okay, how about you stay right here while I finish cleaning up?” Fundy nodded, so Tommy sped through the rest of his cleaning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! next chapter should pick up a bit more story-wise but i just wanted a fun lil fundy and tommy interaction :)


	4. Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy's been meeting his strange buddy for a while now. He sneaks out some books for Ranboo.

Tommy cautiously made his way through the woods, following the now familiar path to his and Ranboo’s meeting spot. The two had been meeting regularly for the past 2 weeks, and Tommy looked forward to each and every interaction. 

“Ranboo?” The boy called, shifting his bag full of books. He had been teaching Ranboo more English- or trying, at least, and books had turned out to be the best way to do that. 

“Friend!” Tommy felt cold hands on his shoulders and a slight breeze as his friend appeared behind him, excitedly yelling. “Tommy!”

“Woah there, hey big man!” Tommy chuckled, turning to give Ranboo a big grin. “I brought more stories!” He brushed off a log near the pair and sat down, gesturing for the other boy to join him. “How’re you doing?”

Ranboo’s face dropped for a second, though he quickly shook his head as if trying to push some thoughts away. “I okay, happy now I see friend!” He gave a big toothy grin.

Tommy’s brow furrowed in concern. He considered for a moment asking his friend if there was something wrong, but decided against it. “Good, good! Why don’t you pick a story?” He asked, laying out the books he had brought. “I got quite a few, we’ll see what we have time for.”

Ranboo looked over his options for a moment before selecting a small, maroon hardcover book with shiny gold detailing. “Red!” He smiled, proud of himself for remembering the color name.

Tommy patted his friend on the back. “Good job Ranboo, it is red!” He gently took the book into his own hands, reading the title.  _ Orpheus and Eurydice _ . “Ooh, bud, this one’s kinda sad. Maybe pick a different one?” The blonde boy suggested.

The taller boy frowned, shaking his head. “This one! Pretty!” He had clearly made up his mind. 

“Alright, alright, we’ll read this one then. I’ll start it, then you can try, okay?” The enderman nodded, and Tommy began to read, making sure the book was held so Ranboo could see the words. 

“There has only been one mortal whose skill at playing the lyre compared with the skill of the god of music, golden Apollo, and that mortal’s name was Orpheus. When he played, the birds would swoop down from the heavens and sit on the branches above his head. When he played, the animals of the fields would gather round him, their heads cocked to one side.” Tommy looked up at Ranboo. “Your turn, try your best.”

Ranboo nodded and looked down at the book determinedly. He could read much better than he could speak, though he wasn’t great at that either. “Now Or..fee us?” Tommy nodded in reassurance. “Orpheus had fallen-” Ranboo’s slow reading was interrupted by a loud boom of thunder, and both boys jumped in shock. 

“Awh man, it’s gonna rain.” Tommy sighed, pulling a bookmark from his pocket and placing it in the book, sliding it back into his bag. “Sorry bud, I don’t want the books to get wet.” 

“Wet?” Tommy looked up at his friend, just now noticing the fear in his eyes. “Water?” His voice was uncharacteristically high, and it sounded strained. He looked up at the sky, shaking a bit. 

“Hey man, you good?” Tommy questioned, seriously concerned for the enderman. “It’s just rain, if you get home under some shelter you’ll be fine.” The boy reached up and placed a hand on Ranboo’s shoulder comfortingly.

Ranboo’s head snapped down to look at Tommy, eyes wide. “No! Not okay! No shelter!” He frantically replied. “Tommy help, please!” 

Tommy didn’t have time to think, hearing another clap of thunder. “Yeah, okay, uhhh..” He gathered his stuff together and turned in the direction of Tubbo’s house. “Follow me, quick.”

The pair rushed through the woods, Tommy silently praying Tubbo’s dad wasn’t home. His thoughts were interrupted as Ranboo yelped behind him, and Tommy realized the rain had started. “Faster Ranboo, come on!” He yelled, grabbing the other boy by the arm and basically dragging him the rest of the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit of a cliffhanger eh? don't worry, next chapter is already in progress and should be posted pretty shortly :) I really appreciate all the support I've been getting! I made a twitter specifically for updates on this and posting art, so drop a follow if you want @horn3thq, and I also have my main/stan account which is @kitnapss :) Thanks for reading and remember to take care of yourself :)


End file.
